Tail-block of sawmills foe setting logs



CHACRLES D. IVIIIGH'I, OF `CORGI-IESTER, CONNECTICUT.

Nros.

'TAIL-:BLOCK 4or sAWMILLs ron SETTING Loes.

To all 10h-0m may concern: f

Be it known that I, CHARLES D. IVnieirr, of Colchester, inthe county o-f`New London and State ofConnect-icut, have invented a new and usefulManner of Constructing is :a representation of the improved tail block,with its slide in place. A, A', is the tail block, B, B, the slide, andC, C, a part of the carriage upon which the tail block rests; theseparts, so far, not differing from such as are in common use. D, D, areeye bolts which are made of round iron,` and pass vertically into theslide, within which they are capable of swiveling around. E, is a dogwhich is made with an open loop at one end, by which it can behooked onto the eye of either of the bolts D, D. This inanner of att-aching thedogs to the eye bolts admits of their being more readily driven into theend, or the sides of the log than under the usual construction. Alongthe back edge of the slide, as ata, a, I atlix a strip of hoop iron, andalong the top o-f the tail block, as at ZJ, b, I affix a similar strip,which overlaps the strip a, a, and performs the ofIice of a rabbet,holding` the slide down in its place, while. it, also, prevents theentrance of sawdust between the slide and the block, and protects theedges of the block and slide from injury. A groove, also, is formed onthe under side of the slide, as shown at c, into which an iron tongue,attached to the block, is received, serving to guide` the slidecorrectly, and allowing it to move easily. In forming the tail block, Iprefer to make it of two pieces of timber bolted together. In this case,I take a piece about l feet 8 inches long, 12 inches wide. and 3 inchesthick; and another piece of the same length, and 5.1; inches square;this latter I bolt to the face of the former, so that it shall standeven with one of its edges, thus forming a block the base of which is 12inches wide,

i and which is about 8J,- inches high on the rear side; this inode ofconstruction leaves a proper recess, or rabbet, to receive the slide B,and also renders it convenient for the `inserting of the apparatus bywhich the logl is to be set, and which I will now proceed to describe.

Fig. 2, represents the face of the tail block,

as seen'when the slide, and the part Af', on which it, rests, areremoved. F, is an iron arm,l which, in an apparatus constructedby me, 1s32% inches long, and about 1.1; inches square.' The arm is hung to theblock by "a joint pin at CZ, and extends along under it to the .carriageside C, into which a notch, or vertical groove, is made, to receive a'friction roller `e, on the outer end of :the arm, `which serves tocheck all lateral motion, and to guide it up and down. G, is a kneedlever which works ona oint pin at f, and carries at its upper end a feedhand, Vor pawl, H, which takes into a ratchet on the slide shown in Fig.Il, and to be `presently described. I, is a friction 'roller on thelower arm of the kneed lever, which friction roller `rests upon the armF, near to -its outer end; and it will be evident, therefore, that theraising ofthe latter will cause the feed hand, or pawl, II, to moveforward. I have made each arm of this lever inches long. yJ, is afriction roller attached to the arm F, and K, is an inclined plane shownin aside view ait II', which is to be made fast tothe door 'of -the millby means of a screw bolt; allowing its place to be changed at pleasure,so that whenthe tail block has arrived in the vproper situation for thesetting of the log, the `roller J, shall come into contact with saidinclined plane.

The arm F, is 'made adjustable inthe following Inanner. L, Figs. "2 and'3, is a screw bolt which passes up vertically through the head of theblock, and it has a nut N, tapped on to its upper end, for the purposeof raislng or lowering it and serving also to prevent the slide frommoving endwise by the bearing of the nut N, on the hammer headed pieceS, which bears upon the strip of iron a, a. Fig. 3, shows the side ofthe arm F, opposite to that shown in Fig. 2; g, is a second arm,lwhichis hung on a joint pin at L, passing through a stud attached to theunder side of the tail block; said arm is connected to the arm F, by apin rising from it, and passing through a slot z', in the arm g; to thislatter arm the bolt L, is jointed at j; the proximity of the joints h,and j, will cause the outer end `of the arm F, to pass through aconsiderable range with but littlemotion in the bolt L. A spring 7c, is`i other, spring l, is made to bear upon the outer end of the kneedlever G, to keep the roller I, in contact with F. The lever Gr, is letinto the face of the tail block, so as to be flush with it, but the feedhand, or pawl, H, stands out from the face of the block, and is receivedwithin a recess in the slide, where it acts upon the rack placed therefor that purpose.

' Fig. l shows the vertical face of the slide, which, when in place, isin contact with the vertical face of the tail block. O, O, is an ironrack which is received within a recess P, P, in the slide; this rack Ihave made thirty inches long. I prepare several racks of thisdescription, say siX or seven, having teeth of different sizes adaptingthem to the setting of stufl:1 to be sawed of different thickness; notthat it is necessary to have a separate rack for every thickness, as thefeed hand, or pall, may be made to pass over two, three, or more teethin one setting, and may serve therefore, for two, three or morethicknesses. The racks are easily slipped out and changed, as theymerely slide into the recess P, P, and have a notch on their under sidesnear their outer ends, which receives a Xed iron stud, as shown at m.When the feed hand, or pawl H, is raised, the rack also can be raised,and slid out, and another,lif required, inserted in its stead; a, Fig.2, is a hole made through the block, in the manner of a keyhole, for theinsertion of a rod to raise the feed hand; this, however, may beeffected in other ways; whenever it is desired to move the slide back,it will be necessary to raise the feed hand. If preferred, a ratchet maybe placed on the underside of the slide, which may be operated on by apinion and winch, for moving the slide back; other kno-wn devices may beemployed in conibi- -of the feed hand over either one, two, or

more, teeth. The inclined plane is then to be fixed on that part of thefloor which suits the length of the log, and the iron arm F, so adjustedas that by passing over said plane, it will cause the feed hand to forcethe slide to the pro-per distance. When the arm E, is relieved from theaction of the inclined plane, the weight of said arm and the pressure ofthe spring upon it will cause it to descend; and the feed hand will, atthe same time, be drawn back by the act-ion of the spring Z, on thekneed lever.

Having thus fully described the nature of my improvement in the mannerof constructing the tail blocks of saw-mills, what I cla-im therein asnew, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The manner in which I have formed, combined, and arranged the arm F, thekneed lever G, the rack O, and the regulating bolt L, and theirappendages, so that by the action of the inclined plane K, on the saidarm, the respective parts shall coperate in setting the log, the wholebeing constructed and actuated in the manner, or substantially in themanner, herein set forth.

CHARLES D. l/VRIGHT.

Witnesses JOSEPH C. HAMMOND, APPLETON R. PARK.

